Compound for combating fungoid diseases of plants.



CHRISTIAN RUMM, OF 'STUT-TGARI, GERMANY.

COMPOUND FOR COMBATING rUNGoIn'DIsEAsEs on PLANTS.

-' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 23 19cc.

ApplicationfiledNovemlier 15,1907. Serial No. 402,268;

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatI, CHRISTIAN RUMM, a citizen of the German Empire, residing at Stuttgart, in the Kingdom of Wiirtemberg, Empire of Germany, have invented certain, new and useful Improvements in'Com ounds for Combating Fungoid Diseasesof lants; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. I

This invention relates. to a new compound or composition for combating fungoid diseases of plants.

By means of this improved compound it is possible to remove the drawbacks inherent in the well known compounds at present in use. These drawbacks consist substantially in the known copper-'sugar-lime mixturewhen freshly prepared, containing by far the major part of the cop er or approximately all the copper, in a ocoulent precipitate,

' which easily stops up'the opening in the spraying apparatus, so that it is impossible to spray the plant leaves ina thoroughly uniform and fine manner, however desirable this may be in order to afford the lant as complete protection as. possible, an also in reducing the costsof spraying. After a few days alsoeven the small quantities of copper which were ori inally dissolved are precipitated in an inso uble condition, and then the places sprayed act as regards the parasites substantially like those of simple nn-sugared, copper-lime spraying compounds (Bordeaux- 1 mixture), that is to say theirv poisonous ac tion most probably only arises from the undissolved particles of copper-compound and consequently it is necessary in order to injure and kill the parasites that they should come into direct contact with the undissolved copper articles (see the I Frank I uger Ue-bcr den Birtfluss der Kap- 45 fer-vitriol- Kalkbrithe aafdieKartofielpflanze Berlin 1894; Arbe'iten der Deutsohen Londwirtschafts esellschaft, page 32, andv C. Rumm, .4711?" Kenntm's der Gtftw'irkungjder Bordeauxbm'ihe and vlhrer .Bcstimdtet'le an Spirogym Longata and the Uredos ores of Vissen- Pucctm'a 007'O1La t(ll, B6I /ZIdg6 2m" schqftl-Botzm. by Fi'mfstiick, 'Vol. I, 1895, page 94; 107/108,.111/112; 131; 139442, and separate publication page 14,27/28, 31/32, 51; 59-62).

experiments of" cipitates of'the spraying solutions. Much. copper is therefore wasted when the soluce, much less than arecontamed in t e separate particles of, the pretions hereinbefore mentioned are-employed,.

and this increases the cost of the preparation 'unnecessarily and also involves the danger of too rapid an -accumulation of copper in the ground. In fact the copper sugar lime .sprayin' solutions hitherto proposed have met wit extensively used. All-these drawbacks may I be removed if the copper be completely dissolved, as,

1. The solution from the first contains the copper much more finely andmore uniformly div1ded than any mixture with solid particles it therefore remains entirely homogene- ,ous even Whenvery dilute.

2. 'In. solutions the copper is therefore given the greatest possible surface; and is thus utilized to the greatest possible extent.

3. The solution may be sprayed through finer apertures (without stopping 'up the latter) than any other spraying compound with solid particles.

4. The solid products, when dried, of the solutions, more particularly when they are made amorphous, arevery muchmore uniformly and constantly distributed, are also many times smaller than the directly sprayed particles of the present spraying compounds. In spite of that the use of clear or approximately clear solutions of copper compounds in calcium saccharates, has hitherto been avoided because it was feared that these solutions when sprayed on the leaves would not form a permanently effective insoluble copper compound, and thus would be again washedofiby the first rain. In addition it was not knownwhether and in what manner the copper could be perfectly dissolved (which manner must be capable of being carried out in agricultural practice). 1

N ow the apphcant, after numerous experi ments, has succeeded in avoiding the draw,- .backs hereinbefore mentioned, and in makin and employin aclear copper lime sucrate so ution, which tion in spite 0 that the separation of insoluble and thereby permanent co per on the leaves takes place in anextreme yfincly dis- 110 no appreciation and have not been oes, not stop up the aper' tures n the-s rayer nozzles, in which solutributed condition. Such copper compound contains, as the a plicant has ascertained, to.

each molecule 0' copper sulfate and cane sugar about 3 molecules of lime slaked to a powder. In employing these roportionate quantities, an almost erfectsoliition of combined copper oxid is 'ormed, which however in the mixture, in case \the same be sufficiently diluted, is resent in such an unstable condition that a ter being sprayed on the leaves it is deposited in a condition insoluble in water, in consequence of its drying in the air, and bythe constant contact of the latter, it is rapidly deposited in a permanently effective condition, insoluble in water.

249.6 parts by weight of (.uSQ 5 aq. I 342 u u z: u I 204-240 0&(011),

lhe order in which the above substances ape mixed with one another is of importance in the preparation of a suitable, permanent, high .per cent. of the solution of the copper compound. It is preferable to introduce the u u n calculated quantity of slaked lime gradually into the solution containing 1 molecule each of cop er sulfate and sugar, or to gradually add t e mixture consisting of the stated quantities of lime and su ar to the solution while stirring it. After t e stirring it is allowed to settle and there is obtained, for in stance Where there. is 1% of co per sulfate contained, an intensely dark b uesolution which contains 949Z% of the total co per,

while the small yellowish to bluish co ored deposit or precipitate only contains a very slight residue of copper which may without harm be disregarded If however copper sulfate and lime or all three substances be taken together in a dry mixture, or if I start with the solution of the copper compound and add simultaneously or subsequently sugar and dry sulfate of copper thereto, there results as the ap licant has ascertained more or less heavy, c otty, or cheesy voluminous masses which partly contain 24-27% more of copper undissolved than the above mentioned preci itate.

The solutlon of the copper compound obtained according to the improved process is,-

when concentrated, as is necessary for spray- 1ng (at most l%% of sulfate) fairly stab e for some days if stored in large vessels. It may therefore be easily kept in a finished condi tion for this time without the separation of solid copper compounds taking place sufliciently to be considered in practice. When the solution is sprayed onto the plants a considerable r. uantity of the cop er separates in an insoluble form even on drying while by the continued action of the air the whole of the copper is somewhat-rapidly so separated.

The precipitation from so uniformly fine a distribution in such a highly diluted solution takes place (as comparative.microscopic observations of the applicant have shown) in numerous smaller particles than exist in any other hitherto known co per sugar lime spraying compounds, and t ius a much more continuous coating results than in all solutions hitherto employed, which contain the copper from the first in solid form and coarse llocculent precipitates. By applicants process therefore the same protective action is attained with a cop er solution of lower percentage than with the higher .ercentage copper spraying compounds hitlierto employed. At the same time the coating of the eaves is thinner and thereby does not absorb so much light falling on the leaves. (Compare Ewert-The Alternate Action of Light and Copper Lime Solutions on the Change of Material of Plants", Londwirtsch J ohrbitchcr 1905).

The carbonizing of the sprayed places on the vine leaves took place in the experiments made in a few days according to the weather. Injury to the leaves in consequence of the basicity of the preparation was in no case ob served.

Spraying experiments df last year showed in a striking manner on the one h nd the fungicide action of a 1% solution of t e copper compound; the peronospora adhering with great tenacity to the unsprinkled vine leaves did not appear on the sprinkled ones. On the other hand the ex eriments showed the great permanency o the preparation on the leavesl Particles dating from the 15th July. and the 14th August were very visible in spite of the continued rainy weather, still in the middle of October.

It is well known, that sugar and calcium Y form several calcium-saccharates, which under certain condition are capable of rendering enerally considered unsoluble metal oxids Zfor instance Cu( OH) soluble in water. Thereby additional products of certain molecular combination are formed. It is not yet known, what exact conditions are necessary for the formation of this double combination, and under what conditions the best result is obtained, and likewise if it is at all possible, to render the copper completely soluble in such combinations.

After a series of experiments, applicant has ascertained the following:

lit)

pounds in the form of a hydrate, as follows:.

CuSO, CaOsugar water Cu(OH) CaSO sugar.-

2 :The Cu (OH) is again dissolved by the use of monoand dicalcium saccharate, when the latter is used in large quantities. The reaction is likely as follows: Cu(OH),, CaO.sugar= CaO .CuOsugar water,

CuO. (CaO.) .sugar water.

3:-To dissolve as much copper as possible, the formation of tricalcium saccharate must be avoided; this is accomplished by adding the calcium compound slowly and in small quantities to the CuSO sugar solution. Reaction as follows:

I z-CuSQ sugar Ca(OH) V CaSQ Cu (OH), sugar. II Cu (OHL sugar Ca (OH) CuO.CaO.sugar 2 water. III :-CuO.CaO.sugar Ca(OH) OuO. (CaO) .sugar 1 water;

in other words, there is first formed Cu (OI-I) and CaSO the-greatest part of the latter, on account of the presence of considerable sugar,

. is rendered soluble; the former Cu(OI-I) combines with sugar and with some more of CatOH), and forms: CuO .OaO.sugar and influence of the carbonic acid in the air and water (rain, dew)the said copper-calciumsaccharates are changed into copper carbonates. In both cases the copper is rendered unsoluble.

From the hitherto known methods in which fungoid diseases of plants are treated with copper-lime sucrate, this process differs first by no compound with flocculent precipitates being employed, but solutions with the finest conceivable distribution of the copper compound. This has the advantage that a finer spraying of the medium is attained as smaller nozzles may also be used than with -flocculent mixtures, and. thus a more intense and uniform action of the medium may be obtained. Thus the improved compound has the advantage that by the use of the unstable copper solution, the copper is precipitated somewhat rapidly and uniformly on the plants or leaves by the action of carbonic acid in the air, so that it cannot be washed away by later rainfalls as is the case with other fluids which contain the. copper dissolved in a stable condition.

7 By the use of this improved com oundthe result is therefore attamed that t e cop er yieldsa more intense action in the smal est possible quantities, so that its fungicide action is fully utilized, while the drawbacks of the previous fiocculent copper sugar-limemixtures are avoided.

I declare that what I claim is The herein described composition for treating plants byspraying, consisting of a clear aqueous solutlon of saccharate of lime and a copper salt in substantially the proportions of four to one, respectively, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature,

in presence of two witnesses.

CHRISTIAN RUMM. 

